Mergers between healthcare providers do not lead to worse or more expensive medical treatment, according to a report from the healthcare council RVZ, quoted in Wednesday’s Volkskrant.

On the contrary, such mergers often lead to better healthcare by concentrating knowledge and investment in hospitals, the report says.
Health minister Ab Klink commissioned the report after MPs demanded he be given the power to block mergers. In particular, MPs are concerned about a proposed tie-up between three residential care groups to create a massive company with a workforce of 38,000 and turnover of €1.4bn.
RVZ chairman Rien Meijerink told the paper that halting the development of a healthcare market would be ‘disastrous’ for the quality of healthcare. ‘Economies of scale benefit patients. Would MPs take that away from them?,’ he was reported as saying.